It was dark and he couldn't see anything. Still, he kept walking because he had a purpose. He had to find her. He kept looking around as he walked and he felt chills down his spine. It was also oddly silent, all he could hear was his steps and his breathing.

He didn't know how long he had been walking, but at some point, he heard a noise. It was the noise of metal against the floor, then a low murmur.

He started running and arrived at the end of the hallway. There were now two paths and he didn't know which one to take, so he just stood there, listening in the silence. There was another noise, then a soft cry. It definitely came from his left, and that's the path he took.

As he was running, he saw something in the distance. He ran faster and finally got to her.

There she was, laying on the cold floor, on her back. She had her eyes closed and there was blood everywhere. Horrified, he hurried by her side and took her in his arms. Why was she so cold?

He heard someone laughing. He looked up and there was a man standing right in front of him, dressed in all black, his purple hair falling over his face. There was some blood on his cheeks and lips and on both his hands. He was holding a bloody knife. Namjoon recognized the man he'd seen briefly in a busy street of Japan not too long ago. That day when he was waiting for Nari...

Namjoon frowned, then looked down at Nari. Her stomach was dark with blood. He couldn't see any injury, but the blood kept spilling and she wasn't moving. She was getting colder. Namjoon kept on calling her name, but she wasn't reacting. He started crying as he shook her. Meanwhile, the man in black kept laughing.

Namjoon screamed and suddenly stood up.

And that's when he woke up. He was panting and he had sweat all over his body. He ran his hands through his hair and started looking for his phone with panic. When he found it, he dialed the number very quickly and pressed the call button.

It kept ringing, but there was no answer. He thought he was going to lose his mind right at that moment. He got up and started dressing. Ten minutes later, he was parking in front of her house.

He opened the door and ran inside. He and Jungkook had a copy of her house's keys. They had a copy of each other's house keys. Yes, that's how close they were.

He ran through the stairs and when he got upstairs, he heard a door opening. Jungkook was coming from the second bedroom and gave him a surprised look. He rubbed his hands on his sleepy face and looked at him again, his eyes wide open now.

"Hyung? What the hell-"

"Nari." Namjoon breathed, then walked to her room.

He opened the door and saw her, laying in her bed, sleeping peacefully. He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

It's just a nightmare, it doesn't mean anything.

"Hyung, what's going on?" Jungkook asked as he was closing Nari's bedroom door.

Namjoon pushed him and they went downstairs. They sat in the living room in complete silence for a moment. Jungkook was watching his hyung with a worried expression. He was fully awake now, and he realized that Namjoon looked very pale, and his eyes... There were shadows in there. It had been a while since he saw him like that.

"Hyung..."

Namjoon closed his eyes for a few seconds and the image of Nari's lifeless body covered in blood reappeared in front of him. He swore and stood up. He started pacing in the small living room while Jungkook was waiting patiently for him to say something.

"Have you encountered anything strange lately?"

"I encounter strange things every day, hyung. I spend most of my days at the police station, remember?"

"No, seriously like... someone watching you or following you?"

Jungkook gave him a questioning look, then shook his head.

"I haven't noticed anything at all. Why? What happened?"

Namjoon stayed silent again. He wasn't sure if he should tell Jungkook anything because he could really be imagining things. He saw that man only once after all, so he didn't want his younger friend to panic for nothing.

"Nothing, I'm just really worried."

Jungkook seemed to believe him because he smiled and stood up.

"Hyung, you really need to calm down. Everything will be fine."

At that moment, Nari entered the living room and gave Namjoon a surprised look. She was still in her PJs and she looked half asleep.

"What are you doing here so early?" She mumbled.

He walked up to her and hugged her. Really tight. She froze for a few seconds, then softened in his arms. She didn't say anything and they stayed like that for a while.

Until Jungkook cleared his throat and that's when Namjoon realized that he had hugged her too long.

"I wanted to see you", he said tenderly, "am I not allowed to?"

"Oh hyung you're very much allowed to". Jungkook said with a laugh.

Nari and Namjoon rolled their eyes at him as he left to - according to his words - take a shower. Namjoon then followed Nari in the kitchen and offered to make breakfast. She accepted eagerly and decided to make some coffee.

A moment later, they were all eating together while talking about nothing in particular. Namjoon liked the atmosphere, he had missed it so much. He wished they could hangout like that all the time, just the three of them...

"By the way," Nari started between two sips "did you talk to my dad lately?"

Namjoon exchanged a look with Jungkook who smiled at him apologetically.

"Everyone talks to your dad on a daily basis. Except you." He answered.

"What the hell, Namjoon-"

"Okay, I wouldn't say daily. A few times a week, like three to four?"Jungkook Intervened.

"What do you guys even talk about?" She asked while chewing on her omelet.

"What do you think?"

"You, of course. You're the center of his universe." Junkgook responded with a laugh.

"You're his everything," Namjoon added.

"Shut up, you two."

The boys laughed while she gave them dark looks.

"You really should give him a chance..." Namjoon started, but she got up abruptly.

"I have to get ready for work!"

Then she left the table faster than Husein Bolt could ever dream of. Namjoon sighed and turned to his younger friend.

"She needs to stop being so stubborn."

"Says the guy who won't confess his love after all these years."

He was going to give him a salty response when his phone made a beeping sound. He had just received a text. Who could it be so early in the morning? He opened the message and all color left his face.

Crap.

Nari was already in a bad mood because of Namjoon trying to hire a bodyguard for her again. He didn't even let her drive to work today! She didn't know what had gotten into him all of a sudden, but she was getting annoyed by his mysterious behavior with every passing second.

Her phone vibrated at that moment and when she checked the screen, she swore. What was wrong with him?

As if her day wasn't weird enough, as soon as she sat at her desk, Hoseok appeared out of nowhere and started petting her. She was so done with his shit. She was trying to get him off of her while everyone else was ignoring them.

Yep, that's how normal this creep's behavior had become.

When Hoseok finally got tired of bothering her and walked away, Nari decided to go through the evidence list of the latest murder again. She had learned quite a lot when they started following the new lead. And they were right about one thing: that perverted murderer was hella rich. All the victims wore designer clothes and lingerie when they were dumped. It was all new, as well.

Exactly how meticulous could he be? Also, according to the profilers, he had been prepared for a while because some of the clothes were from collections that weren't around anymore.

"Noona."

She looked up to see Jungkook standing in front of her desk.

"What?"

"Hyung says-"

"NO!"

"You didn't even let me finish?" He said with a pout.

Okay, he really didn't have to be this cute. Now she was going to have to listen to whatever rubbish he had to say.

"Fine, what did Namjoon say?"

"I really don't understand why you're mad at him. The poor boy is worried sick about you-"

"Get to the point, I'm busy."

"He wants to know if you want to get lunch later."

"No, I'm not hungry."

"It's not lunchtime yet!"

"I won't be hungry at lunchtime either. Now go away."

She got back to her files and ignored him completely. Sulking, he went back to his seat. She couldn't help but smile at his cuteness.

A moment later, her phone started vibrating again. She thought about letting it ring but decided against it. He could come to the precinct if she didn't answer. With an exasperated sigh, she picked up the call.

"Suck my dick, Kim Namjoon."

"Well, unfortunately for you, I don't suck dicks. So you're up for lunch?"

"No."

"Then I guess I'm having lunch at the police station today-"

"What's going on, Namjoon? Why are you being more annoying than usual today?"

"I just want to spend more time with you before I start getting really busy."

Okay, he had a point. Still, it was weird. He usually didn't stick to her like glue. Every time he had a break from his crazy schedule and came home, they spent time together but not like this. If they had breakfast together, they'd only talk through text messages or on the phone for the rest of the day. But today he wanted to have lunch too?

And ever since they left her house, he's been acting as if he was expecting the worse. And he wouldn't shut up about the whole bodyguard thing. Nari wondered if her dad was behind all this.

"I can do dinner?"

"Why not lunch?"

"Because I'm busy. I have to go, bye."

She didn't want to hang up on him, but she was frustrated. If her dad was really behind Namjoon's sudden excessive behavior, she was going to give him a piece of her mind soon.

Later, she went out with Soha to investigate. They went to ask about the clothes in retail stores. They asked for purchase histories and video surveillance. It was far-fetched, but hopefully, they could find something suspicious.

However, Nari hadn't realized how much work they would be dealing with. Hours and hours of videos, months of purchase data. Scratch that. It was years of purchase data. Fortunately, other teams volunteered to help them during their free time.

Lunchtime came quickly and they decided to get some food delivered to the station. When the food arrived, Nari was so hungry that she could eat a whole restaurant. But as she had started eating, prosecutor Kim decided to visit out of the blue. And he wanted to talk to her.

Really?

She gave him a dirty look before following him outside.

"This better be important because I've killed you forty times in my mind already."

He smiled and slid his hands into his pockets.

"It's been a while, Park. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?"

"Been better. I heard you guys have a new lead?"

"You really didn't need to drag me outside to talk about the case, you know."

"I'm not here about the case."

"Then why are you here?"

He watched her in silence for a moment and she frowned. As she took a closer look at him, she noticed some changes. He looked very tired, more so than usual. And he seemed to have lost some weight. How long has it been since she saw him? A few days?

"I need you to do me a favor." He finally said.

"What is it?"

He seemed hesitant. He looked down and sighed. But she didn't miss the shadows in his dark eyes. Okay, now she was curious and worried.

"Jin, come on, tell me."

"You seem very busy, indeed." Said a voice behind her.

She rolled her eyes and turned to see Namjoon standing a few feet away from them. He was wearing grey pants, a white shirt, black boots, and a long, light coat the same color as his pants. He had his mask on, so she could only see his eyes. And they were not warm at all. But damn, he looked hot.

He walked slowly towards them as he took off his mask. He greeted Jin coldly, but the other guy just smiled.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for lunch", he answered with a smile, then he entered the main room without giving her time to answer. She heard some murmurs and then a few screams, probably the girls fangirling. She rolled her eyes, then turned her attention back to Jin.

"Shouldn't you join your boyfriend?" Jin asked.

"He's not my boyfriend, I already told you that."

"Does that mean that I have a chance after all?"

Okay, she did not expect that! She looked at him with bewilderment as her heartbeat rose. Was he teasing her? If yes, then he was cruel. She had had a crush on him for some time and she didn't think he saw her that way. She was also sure that he didn't know or at least that he just decided to ignore it. But what was she supposed to do if he started flirting with her, now?

He laughed, then looked her dead in the eyes.

"Can I kiss you, Nari?"

What the f*** Jin?

She was blushing hard and she still didn't know where her voice went. But the most troubling part was the way he was looking at her. He didn't seem like someone who was making a joke. At all. There was heat in his gaze and his eyes lingered a bit too long on her lips. Next thing she knew, his face was very close to hers. How did the situation shift so drastically? One minute they were talking and the next, he was being all seductive.

She couldn't even breathe properly at this point. Was he really going to kiss her?

"Nari?" He called in a very low voice. She almost didn't hear him.

"Y-yes?"

"You haven't answered my questions."

She blinked and took a step back. His questions? Oh, yeah! He asked her two questions, didn't he? Did he really want her to answer? If so, then what was she going to say? She frowned. Did she really ask herself that? A few weeks ago, she would have answered yes to both, without hesitation. But today... Why was she hesitating?

"I should go, see you later-"

"You wanted to ask me a favor!"

He smiled and shook his head.

"Forget it, it was a bad idea anyway. See you later, detective Park."

Then he walked away. She stayed there for a few seconds looking at his back. What just happened?

When she went back inside, her colleagues were pretty much done eating and they were back to work. Soha was discussing she didn't know what with Namjoon and Jungkook was still sulking behind his computer.

Nari sat back at her spot on the couch and took her food. She wasn't even hungry anymore. She looked down at her udon noodles and sighed. She was so distracted that she hadn't noticed that everyone had joined their desks. Namjoon was now sitting on the couch facing her and was looking at her closely.

"Why are you blushing?" He asked in his deep voice, which caused her to blush even more.

An image appeared in her mind at that moment and she closed her eyes for a second before opening them and looking at Namjoon. She couldn't believe she had just imagined Namjoon as Jin, in the same position she was a minute ago. What would she have answered if it was Namjoon asking her those questions? She blushed even harder as her eyes met his.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"What did he want?"

"I don't know, he left without actually saying why he came."

There was a silence, then she noticed two other pairs of eyes on her. Jungkook and Soha were giving her curious looks.

"What?"

"I don't even know who to ship you with anymore..."

Nari frowned at her friend after hearing that. What was she talking about?

"Definitely my hyung." Jungkook said.

But Nari wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. She hadn't noticed Namjoon's tender look either. She had just received a message and had forgotten about everything else instantly. A bunch of emotions went through her at once. Fear, panic, rage, confusion, worry, then rage again.

How dare he?

An unknown number had sent her a dozen of pictures of her in her house eating and laughing with both Junkook and Namjoon, of her with Soha, and of her with only Namjoon. Then the text read:

"I'm watching you, detective Park. If you keep digging, you may find something you won't be able to handle.

-KHS"

Then he sent another one.

"You look so good, I can't wait to finally meet you."

She suddenly stood up and threw her phone in a raging gesture.

"What's going on?" Soaha asked in shock.

"This-this psycho, he just contacted me."

She heard a few of her colleagues gasp while Ji Ho took her phone and checked the messages. She was more mad than scared now. She couldn't believe how bold he was. Threatening a police officer? Was it stupidity or arrogance? She then remembered what Tae and Jimin had said.

"His end game is you."

Was it really the case?

"He contacted me, too," Namjoon said as he took his phone out of his pocket and put it on the table.

Nari took it and opened his message app. She knew his password and he knew hers too. They were best friends, after all. No big deal.

This pervert sent him a picture of her sitting in her living room, focused on her phone. She remembered that day. It was two days ago and she was ordering takeouts because Jungkook was too tired to cook. And the text read:

"Cherish the people you love while they're still around... By the way, why did you come to her house so early today?

-The Vampire Killer 😏"

She looked up at Namjoon and a lump formed in her throat. So that was the reason why he'd been acting so out of character? He was really worried about her. She couldn't imagine what he had felt at that moment. He was so sensitive...

"I first thought it was a prank, but the longer I checked the picture, the scarier it felt. He's been in your house, Nari. He could have hurt you. Can you please listen to me for once? Let me protect you."

She didn't answer and sat back down. Her mind was racing now and she could think of many ways to kill that bastard when she put her hands on him. Did he think that this would scare her? On the contrary! More than anything else, she wanted to catch him now!

"The only way for me to be safe is to catch that bastard."

And I will catch you. Just watch.